Previously, travel experts in Singapore named a few countries that could possibly be the next air travel bubble destination for Singapore.
You can read all about it here, but the most important point all of them agreed on is this: it’ll likely be a country that Singapore already has fast/green lane travel arrangements with.
Well, if you’re salivating at the thought of having a travel bubble arrangement with Malaysia, I’ve got bad news for you.
M’sia Reported High COVID-19 Daily Cases
On 23 Nov 2020, Malaysia recorded 1,884 new Covid-19 cases.
Don’t misunderstand, it’s not the total number of Covid-19 cases for the week. It’s the number of new cases discovered in a single day.
This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia to 56,659.
There are two more deaths related to Covid-19 in Sabah, bringing the total death toll to 337.
According to Malaysia’s health ministry, this spike is caused by the sharp increase in workplace clusters in Klang Valley.
Selangor, itself, accounts for almost 2/3 of the new infection cases (1,203) and out of these, 1,060 cases were linked to the Teratai work cluster.
Currently, there are 115 Covid-19 patients in intensive care, and 48 of them needs respiratory support.
To make things worse, 28 Top Glove factories, which is the world’s biggest producer of latex glove-maker, are planned to close in stages after 1,889 workers tested positive for the coronavirus.
No Opening Of Borders Anytime Soon
The major factor for the opening of borders for Singapore, according to travel experts, is no longer about profitability, but safety.
Singapore operates on a “risk” model where we assess the country’s Covid-19 situation, as well as the effectiveness of systems put into place to curb Covid-19 transmission before opening up the borders or setting up a travel bubble.
Given how Malaysia’s in the midst of combating yet another wave of Covid-19 infections, it seems that our prediction of not being able to travel to JB for banana cakes and KL-style Chee Cheong Fun until next year might be coming soon.
After all, the entry criteria for travellers from Malaysia has changed from a 7-day SHN to a 14-day SHN from 22 Nov 2020.
Then, you ask, what about the country which we’ve already have an air travel bubble arrangement with?
Well, it’s not looking great there too.
Hong Kong Reports High Daily Covid-19 Cases
The Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble (ATB) was supposed to take off on 22 Nov 2020.
Unfortunately, one day after the announcement back in early November, Hong Kong started reporting a worrying spike in Covid-19 infection cases.
On 21 Nov 2020, just one day before the inaugural ATB flights take off, the Hong Kong and Singapore government decided to suspend the scheme for two weeks.
On 23 Nov 2020, Hong Kong, similar to Malaysia, also reported a high number of daily Covid-19 cases.
Recording 73 new Covid-19 cases, which is the highest in 3 months, Hong Kong warns of a worsening Covid-19 situation with “silent transmission chains” (read: unlinked cases running rampant in the city).
Many of the cases are linked to dance clubs and the HK government is now appealing for people in the area to voluntarily take Covid-19 swab tests.
Thus far, Hong Kong has reported 5,702 Covid-19 cases with 108 Covid-19 related deaths.
Air Travel Bubble At Risk
If you’ve read all about the HK-SG ATB, you’ll know that several benchmarks have been put into place.
If the 7-day moving average for unlinked COVID-19 cases is more than 5 in Singapore or Hong Kong, the travel bubble might end up getting suspended for two weeks.
Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing told reporters that both countries have decided to pull the plug temporarily on the travel bubble scheme because the numbers have hit the benchmark.
And two weeks later (from when the suspension began), both countries will look at the numbers again and decide based on the framework.
The air travel bubble can only resume when the daily average moving figure of unlinked cases on the last day of suspension is lesser than 5.
In other words, if Hong Kong’s situation on 6 Dec 2020 doesn’t improve, it’s highly likely that you can forget about the ATB for another two weeks.
If you’re looking for a vacation, you might just be better off thinking of how to best utilise your SingapoRediscovers Vouchers instead.
Image: NAUFAL ZAQUAN / Shutterstock.com & Yung Chi Wai Derek / Shutterstock.com
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